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Tanaiste Simon Coveney said he \u201chopes\u201d the UK government will be \u201cpragmatic\u201d in what it seeks regarding the Brexit transition period.<\/p>\nTanaiste Simon Coveney said he \u201chopes\u201d the UK government will be \u201cpragmatic\u201d in what it seeks regarding the Brexit transition period.<\/p>\n
Mr Coveney said the consequences of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations are \u201cextraordinarily important\u201d for Britain and the EU.<\/p>\n
He stopped short of calling for the British government to extend the Brexit transition period beyond the end of this year.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Dublin\u2019s Government Buildings on Thursday, the Foreign Affairs Minister described the timeline for Brexit as \u201cextraordinarily ambitious\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs someone who was living, and breathing and sleeping Brexit for about two years, it\u2019s amazing how a focus on a priority changes and there aren\u2019t too many people asking about Brexit now because we are in the midst of a national crisis relating to public health and so is the UK,\u201d Mr Coveney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would hope that the British government would be pragmatic in relation to what they seek and that the EU negotiating team would be pragmatic also.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe timelines for Brexit before Covid-19 emerged on the scene were extraordinarily ambitious and very difficult to comply with so let\u2019s wait to see how that conversation develops.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learnt not to be giving advice to the British government from Dublin, it generally doesn\u2019t go down too well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will make their own decisions as they always do but I do think that in the medium term the consequences of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations are extraordinarily important for Britain, for Ireland and for the EU collectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need to ensure that the time and space is available to do that properly and right now there are other priorities to keep people alive that should be the focus of Government attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll leave it to the British government about what they want to ask but I am confident that the EU will respond generously to a request for an extension.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning to Government formation talks, Mr Coveney said that his party, Fine Gael, had a \u201cgood day\u201d in its discussions with Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
The global health crisis has put pressure on the talks process, however neither party have enough seats to form a majority government.<\/p>\n
Following the general election outcome in February, Fine Gael emerged with 35 seats and Fianna F\u00e1il with 37 seats \u2013 below the 80 seats needed to form a government.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the two parties are really working now to try to make an important step forward,\u201d Mr Coveney added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taoiseach (Leo Varadkar) has talked about the two parties trying to agree a sort of framework document that I hope can be persuasive in terms of inviting other parties to join us in the efforts of designing a program for government through these extraordinary times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why my belief is that Ireland does need a government that has a majority and has the mandate of the authority to be able to give leadership through this very difficult period but also plan for what comes next.\u201d<\/p>\n